48 A COMRADE JOINS. 



winds would revel freely in it, and heave up the little 

 carpet with an unceasing undulation, still the table cloth 

 was tolerably tranquil, for the weight of the meal made it 

 retain its station ! What, though the parlour bell in the 

 passage would ring incessantly during the night, even when 

 the doors were closed, stimulated by the gentle violence 

 of the wind : it was an ^iEolian harp to him ! What, 

 though a deluge of continuous rain, like the bursting of a 

 water- spout, would sometimes plunge down, and darken 

 the narrow glen, recalling the days of Deucalion and 

 Pyrrha, still there was a to-morrow, and then the mist 

 would climb the mountain tops, and the sun break forth 

 anew in all its refulgence ! 



Heaven be praised for these transient checks ! they 

 add new vigour to our mind, and fresh zest to our 

 sport. 



But away with these reflections ; for here comes my 

 friend, safely arrived over the dubious tracts of the 

 Badenoch mountains, fresh and eager for the sport. 



" Well, Harry, I am delighted to see you arrived and 

 to welcome you to my cabin ; how do you like our country ; 

 and how did you and your sheltie get across it ? " 



" Country ! why it is a vast chaos of mountains, rocks, 

 and torrents ; I hit the track by a mere miracle, you 

 know that well enough. I have been made aware that 

 the descendants of the Picts dwell to the north, but 

 without this previous instruction, I should be inclined to 

 say, ' Nunc terminus Britannia patet ; nulla jam ultra 

 gens, nihil nisi fluctus et saxa ; ' - so utterly desolate seems 

 all around me. I dare say we shall see Galgacus in the 

 course of the day. But pray let us go in ; the breakfast 



